Feb 19 (Reuters) - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on

Thursday sued Sanofi for allegedly "bribing" providers

to prescribe ​its medications over alternatives.

The ‌attorney general's office issued a statement ⁠saying that

the company created programs to ⁠offer services to healthcare

providers, ‌which ‌it alleges amounted to bribes in violation ​of

the Texas Health ‌Care Program Fraud Prevention Act.

Sanofi did not immediately respond ​to a Reuters ​request ‌for

comment.

Attorney General Paxton is seeking monetary relief of over a

million ⁠dollars, including civil penalties, as ⁠well as an

injunction to stop any further unlawful acts, the statement

said.

The Attorney General has previously ⁠sued ‌Sanofi and

Bristol-Myers Squibb ( BMY ) for ‌failing to disclose that their

drug ⁠to prevent blood clots Plavix did not work effectively for

certain patients.

Last year, Texas also sued Eli Lilly for allegedly

"bribing" providers to prescribe its ​most profitable drugs,

including the GLP-1 medications Mounjaro and Zepbound.